Jaiden Malfoy
by KayBeth13
Summary: Draco Malfoy left Hermione Granger before he found out Hermione was pregnant. Now, 18 year old Jaiden Malfoy just wants to meet her dad and find out the real reason for his departure. Did he really want to leave or was he forced to the whole time?
1. Jaiden Malfoy

Hermione Granger: probably the smartest witch in history. However, even the most intelligent person in the world can make mistakes. In Hermione's case, it was when she was eighteen years old, believing that the man she loved, Draco Malfoy, actually loved her back, only to have him admit the day she was going to tell him she was pregnant, that he hated her and that he still considered her to be a mudblood. Then, he upped and left, and she never saw him again. Out of her love for him and the motherly instincts that held her, she carried the pregnancy through, giving birth to a healthy baby girl that she named Jaiden Brooke Malfoy.

Ron stopped speaking to her the day he found out about the pregnancy, and they still don't speak, even if they are in the same room, Ron still ignores both Hermione and Jaiden, and because of that, Jaiden has grown up to hate him for treating her mother so badly when he was supposedly one of her two best male friends.

As for Harry, at first he was angry, but then he saw the love between Draco and Hermione, and when Draco left, Harry vowed to support Hermione through her pregnancy, which he did. He became Jaiden's godfather and 'uncle' and Jaiden loves him to pieces.

Ginny wasn't at all surprised when Hermione told her that she was in love with Draco, and when she found out about the pregnancy, she again, wasn't surprised. What did surprise her though was the fact that Draco left, leaving Hermione broken. Ginny was there right from the start, and she became Jaiden's godmother.

The only surprise that Hermione had with everyone once Jaiden was born was that at the christening, instead of choosing two godmothers and one godfather, Hermione chose to have Ginny as the godmother and then chose two godfathers. The first being Harry, the second originally being Ron but after he cut Hermione out, the honour went to Blaise Zabini, something that completely shocked everyone. Again, apart from Ginny, who had already guessed that was what Hermione was planning. During Draco and Hermione's relationship, Blaise had formed a fondness for Hermione that developed into a friendship, and when Draco left Hermione, Blaise had been the only Slytherin to take Hermione's side, betraying his name as a pure-blooded wizard, and putting him on the target list for those hardcore death eaters who were determined to destroy all who had abandoned them after the fall of the dark lord.

Jaiden grew up living a relatively normal life. Hermione after five years, had married a muggle man named Jason Reed, and they had two children: thirteen year old James and eleven year old Claudine. Jason knew all about the wizarding world, especially as Hermione worked at the ministry of magic and all three children had been accepted at Hogwarts. Jaiden had declined the offer, stating to her mother that she adored the muggle world and though magic was fascinating, she wasn't ready to give up her whole life for it. The other two however, jumped at the chance to go. James had just started his third year, and Claudine was in her first year. Hermione was sure the pair would end up in Gryffindor, and Jaiden couldn't help but laugh when both children wrote home to say they had been placed in Hufflepuff.

As for Jaiden, she attended regular school, finally completing senior school at sixteen with A* in all twelve subjects, then two years later completed her A levels with three A's in biology, English and geography, and one B in French. Her family all lived in London, whereas she was wanting to go to Nottingham for university, and so had moved away to live with Blaise in order to be closer to her education.

Jaiden knew about her real father, and knew he lived near Nottingham, and dearly wanted to go and see him, but she knew that he had no idea of her existence, and this stopped her from going. Blaise lived in Nottingham and had invited her to move in with him. Hermione was worried that Jaiden would accidentally see Draco, but Blaise reminded her that Draco hated him now and wouldn't be seen dead in a muggle area, and she eventually agreed to it. Jaiden had been at the university now for a month, and had settled in well, studying zoology combined with geography. To look at her, you would think that she lived a happy and content life, however, inside of her; she had a yearning to meet her real family. Knowing that it would never happen, she settled for being near where they lived in the hope that maybe one day, she might actually have the chance to meet her dad face to face…


	2. Scott Longbottom

Jaiden hated mornings. She reckoned that she must have inherited that off her dad, especially after her mum had made a comment one morning after unsuccessfully getting her daughter out of bed that she was "just like him". That was one of the very few things Jaiden knew of her dad. The only other things she knew were that he was very arrogant and selfish, yet underneath it, he was kind hearted. He only acted cruel because he was forced to by his father. Jaiden shuddered to think about her grandfather, Lucius. She had read many books about the wizarding world as even though she herself wasn't a witch, the world fascinated her. She had read one book in particular named _The encyclopaedia of Death Eaters_, written by an old school friend of her Mum and Uncle Harry's named Pavarti Patil. The book had a detailed biography of Voldemort (Hermione had taught her about how fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself), and it included a detailed profile of every identified death eater, including her own father, who it turns out actually hadn't joined the death eaters and didn't have the dark mark or anything, but once the rumour got out, that was it. Jaiden had found out from the book that her grandfather had been Voldemort's right hand man. She had never met him, and had been told that he disappeared fifteen years ago, but she hoped to never meet him.

Jaiden jumped as she heard the front door knock. She heard Blaise answer it, and recognised the voice of the guest almost immediately. Uncle Harry! Even though she was still more asleep than awake, and banged into the corner of her bed twice as she dressed, she quickly got dressed and gave her hair a quick brush before running down the stairs and giving him a bear hug.

"Hey Jaiden. How are you?" Harry asked.

She pulled away before replying.

"Same old, really. Study zoology, study magic, go out with my friends, study…the cycle just goes on and on."

Harry let out a laugh and ruffled her hair, causing her to send him a mock scowl. She then laughed until she looked at the clock.

"crap! My first lecture is in fifteen minutes! I gotta go! Great to see ya Uncle Harry!"

She gave both men a kiss on the cheek before grabbing her bag, keys, jacket and an apple off the counter and running out the door, slamming it behind her accidentally. Harry looked over at Blaise who was laughing.

"she looks like more of a handful than she did as a child"

Blaise shrugged

"she is, but I've adjusted to it since she's been living here"

The pair laughed again, before moving to the study to discuss business.

Only missing five minutes, Jaiden quietly entered the lecture theatre and plopped down next to her best friend and fellow half-wizard Scott Longbottom, who's dad Neville the herbology teacher at Hogwarts, taking over after professor sprout retired. Scott was similar to Jaiden in many was, for example, they were both half wizards, they had both never met one of their parents (Scott's mum died giving birth to him) and they had both chosen the muggle life over the wizarding one. Scott remained a muggle because he had shown absolutely no magical abilities in his life. Jaiden had shown that one day she could have been as powerful as her mum, maybe even more so, yet had remained a muggle to stay with the ones she loved.

Jaiden and Scott had met three months ago on the first day of term. Scott had recognised her surname and called her a death eater, mainly to see if she would react as only a witch would have known what he was talking about. She had reacted, just not as he expected. He thought she would just smirk and shrug it off, but instead, she turned and slapped him, screaming profanities at him and that if he ever called her that again he would find out in the most painful way possible what it was like to be castrated. Needless to say, he never said it again. Once the argument had finished though and they realised who each others parents were, the pair quickly became firm friends and were now inseparable.

Jaiden opened her notebook and started jotting down notes from the lecture about evolution. Scott wasn't interested in this module but it was compulsory for his degree, so he had to do it. Normally, the pair would sit and chat during the lectures as their lecturer wasn't too good at explaining things, but this lecturer was really good and Jaiden needed as much information as possible to complete her dissertation of the evolution of the dog and how wolves evolved into the domesticated dogs that were now around. Scott chose to put his head down on his book and within minutes, he was snoring. Jaiden sniggered as she heard the first snore and had to resist the urge to draw on his face, but forced herself to focus on the lecture and collect her notes. When the lecture finished, Jaiden packed her books away, and woke Scott up. After he had apologised to mark (the lecturer) for falling asleep playfully shoving Jaiden for laughing at him, they left the room to head to the library.

Now that he actually had something to do that he found interesting and enjoyed, Scott had come to life. He may lack any and all common sense, but he more than made up for it with his intelligence. Like his dad, he had a natural talent when it came to plants, but he also had a gift with animals, that he inherited from his mum. He was studying zoology combined with ecology and horticulture for his degree. At the minute he was sitting in front of a large book about plants and equipment needed for different breeds of bear. Jaiden had decided after writing up her notes, that she would take a break from muggle studies and focus on her magic for a bit. When she had reached 17 and wouldn't get into trouble for being taught magic, Jaiden had asked, even begged her mum to teach her some magic, just because you never know what may happen. Hermione had finally agreed and had taken her daughter out to but some necessities such as books and a wand. Jaiden had surprised everyone at how much she had taught herself growing up and reading books, and before long, she had well and truly caught up with those students who were sitting their NEWTS, and now, she was even further than many witches and wizards. Hermione had taught her until she left for university and since then, Blaise had taken over her training, and strangely she took to his training much quicker than she had Hermione's, mainly because he tended to create magical obstacle courses, whereas Hermione preferred more traditional ways of learning. Jaiden enjoyed the obstacle courses as it allowed her to put her sport to use and keep herself fit and healthy.

Jaiden pulled a book on potions out of her bag, ignoring Scott when he raised an eyebrow and tried (failing miserably) to discreetly move away from her. Scott was terrified of any form of magic despite having a wizard for a dad. This was because his dad had used a spell once that had backfired and hit his son, burning his legs and badly scarring them to the point that magic could only remove some of the scarring. Scott still had a large scar on his left leg and a small one on his right leg from the accident, but had been petrified of magic from that day on. If he even caught a glimpse of a wand, he was gone and a Scott shaped hole would be imprinted on the wall nearest to where he had been standing. Jaiden had found it amusing when he first told her, until she saw his reaction for herself.

They had a power cut one day, and Jaiden had pulled her wand out to use the _lumos_ spell to let some light into the room. Scott immediately went pale and ran out of the room screaming. Jaiden had found him an hour later, cowering in the lobby of his block, shaking and crying. She had apologised, and as he explained to her, he didn't mind her not believing him about his fear, as it was unheard of that a witch or wizard, whether they are pureblood, half-blood or muggle, be terrified of magic.

Scott was slowly getting better with magic though, with a lot of help from Jaiden. He still flinched whenever Jaiden pulled out her wand, but as long as she only did very basic spells that he knew could do no damage to anybody, he could cope with it. He did admit one thing, and that was that her wand was beautiful. It was a white willow and unicorn wand, with very delicate patterns entwines up the length of the wand handle that Scott liked to call snakes, and secretly, Jaiden agreed with him. Hermione thought they looked like vines, but Jaiden thought her mum was just trying to convince herself that's what it was. Even though the wand was very intricate and delicate, it held a strength that rivalled any other, and Jaiden felt it couldn't be any more suited for her.

Scott had always thought that Jaiden's wand reflected her own personality. On the outside she was graceful, beautiful and appeared fragile at times, yet on the inside she had a warrior's spirit, strong, proud, gifted. Add intelligence to it and you get an unstoppable force.

Rather than use magic, Scott spent most of his spare time playing sport. To look at, people thought he wouldn't be very good as he was very tall and lanky, however he proved everybody wrong within the first week of being at university by completely destroying the previous records in the 100m and 200m sprint, javelin, high jump, long jump and cross country sprint. Jaiden had broken the girls cross country record, but she wasn't a bit fan of sport unless it involved horse riding. Then, she was unbeatable. She had been riding since she was three years old, and had one nearly a hundred different competitions in cross country and show jumping. Even now, she would get up every Sunday at 6am and drive to the nearest stables and spend the day there. At the end of the day, Blaise picked her up and they would go out for dinner, as they both preferred to not cook on Sundays. Jaiden loved her routine and her life, but no matter what she did, she still had that hole in her heart to see her father.


	3. Blaise Zabini

After Harry left, Blaise decided to finally catch up on some reading. Not the usual reading, but the reading that involved a lot of resources and trying to find Lucius Malfoy. Harry had come to him nearly six months ago now to say that Lucius had been sighted quite close to Hermione's house and there were rumours of a new evil group rising, being led by none other than Lucius himself. Since then, Blaise had been helping to track the man down. He had wanted to contact Draco to warn him, but he kept reminding himself that if Draco cared, he would have shown his face by now, but there had been nothing for almost nineteen years now.

Just as he had opened the first newspaper, he heard the front door knocking. He assumed it was Harry, so he left his wand on the desk and moved to open it.

"What have you forgotten…?"

The rest of the words disappeared as he took in the view of his visitor. A tall, muscular, pale haired, blue eyed man stood there, ghostly pale skin and shaking from the cold. A deep cut adorned the top of his left arm, and blood was slowly oozing down it. The man looked at Blaise and gave him as good a smile as he could.

"Blaise, I'm so sorry, I was wrong" he rasped.

Hearing him speak made something click inside Blaise. He threw the door open as wide as it would go, and stepped out, putting his arm round the mans shoulders and gently carrying him into the kitchen, where he placed him on one of the bar stools standing next to the counter. He quietly began to clean the man's arm before sending him upstairs with a set of clothes to have a shower.

The man returned downstairs and Blaise noticed with relief that some colour had returned to his cheeks. Yes, he always had had pale cheeks, but the colour they were earlier had been too pale, even for him. Blaise handed him a cup of tea and the pair sat down on a sofa in the living room. They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Blaise found he couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Shit, Draco. Nineteen years, and you just suddenly turn up!? What happened to you anyway? Why did you just leave and insult everyone like that?"

Draco Malfoy looked up at his childhood friend, grateful that he hadn't been turned away. Yet.

"My…my father. He threatened my mum and Hermione. He said he would kill them if I didn't break it off with her…"

He stopped talking to collect himself.

"I had no choice but to leave. It was then that I was informed that I was to marry another pureblood like myself, which turned out to be Pansy Parkinson and produce children with her as father had a plan for them. I knew he was planning on raising his own army, but when I found out he wanted to use my own children as his chief, commanders, I had to go. I ran. It was too dangerous to go back to Hermione plus I found out she was now married, and though I was married to Pansy and hated her, she was still my wife and an old school friend so I took her with me. We've lived near here for a couple of years now, but father seems to be leaving me alone now"

Blaise looked hard at his old friend. Looking at the emotions reflected in Draco's eyes told him that the man wasn't lying. He had only left to make Hermione believe he really hated her so that she would be safe. But wait, she wasn't.

"I hate to say this Draco, but Hermione isn't as safe as you thought. I've been working with Harry for nearly six months now, trying to track down Lucius, but he has been sighted recently near Hermione's house. Now we're not sure why he would be doing that, but Harry has an idea why. He'll probably heading my way soon if Harry's idea is right"

"Why would he be heading here?"

Before Blaise could answer, there was the unmistakable sound of a key being inserted into the lock, and Draco was pushed into the kitchen as a teenage girl walked in. Apart from the fact she had very wavy hair and her skin wasn't as pale as his, she could have almost been his twin, but he didn't have time to see her.

"Hey Blaise, I'm back" she called.

Blaise stood up and she turned to face him, not noticing Draco yet.

"Hey, how was your day?"  
"Apart from Scott falling asleep during the lecture? It was ok I guess. I managed to get that potions essay done for aunt Ginny, and guess what? Scott hardly reacted when I got my wand out! How cool is that?"

"He's certainly getting better. Let's hope that one day he'll pick up a wand of his own."

Jaiden laughed before giving him a look that clearly meant she thought he was stupid.

"Like that's ever going to happen. Anyway, I'm going out for a bit, is that ok?"

"Of course."

Jaiden gave him a hug and threw her bag onto the sofa before turning and running out of the door.

Draco watched the scene with interest, but couldn't help but think that there was something about that girl's voice that was familiar. He looked hard at Blaise as he returned to the living room.

"What was that about?"

Blaise sighed.

"You might want to sit down as I have something to tell you."

Draco sat down, not sure if he wanted to hear what he was about to be told.

"That day you left, Hermione was going to tell you something. She was….pregnant."

The colour left Draco's face again, and he sank down until his head was in his hands.

"What did she do?" he whispered.

"She kept the baby. She had a girl and called her Jaiden. Jaiden…Malfoy. Even after you left, she still loved you enough to give her daughter your name."

A tear slid down Draco's face and he looked up to his friend.

"So the girl here just then…"

"Was Jaiden. She lives with me as she goes to the university here. I hid you as she knows what you look like and if she saw you or you saw her without Hermione knowing, all hell will break loose. I'm not being horrible, but you have to never come back here. I will visit you, but I can't risk you seeing Jaiden until I've spoken to Hermione"

He saw the look of heartbreak on Draco's face and gave him a one armed hug. It must be hard to learn that you have an eighteen year old daughter but are unable to see her. Draco composed himself, before telling Blaise that he was leaving. There was still a long way to go before he was completely forgiven, but Blaise could see the pain he had been through all these years and was determined that somehow, he was going to help his friend through it.


	4. Draco Malfoy

18 years ago

Draco sighed with happiness. He was young, healthy and madly in love, yes, it was the muggle Hermione Granger that he was in love with, but it was love all the same. He had even decided to propose to her, tonight if possible. Of course, he had his whole life planned out, to marry her and have a family with her, but it wasn't to be. Fate was never destined to be kind to him.

Just as he was preparing to leave the house, a house elf appeared next to him to give him the message that he was to go to his fathers office immediately. Knowing that it would be very unwise to directly disobey his fathers orders, he slumped his shoulders, before drawing them up again and heading down the corridor. He stopped just outside the room, and went in without knocking. His father looked up at him and gave him an arrogant smirk.

"now, now Draco, I know I taught you manners about knocking" he mocked.

"sorry. What is it you wanted? I am in a bit of a rush, so if you could just be brief…"

"oh, do not worry, I will be very brief."

The tone of voice Lucius used put draco on high alert, and his back stiffened immediately. Lucius noticed this and his smirk grew.

"to put it as bluntly as possible my son… you are to finish with the muggle tonight and in three weeks, you are to marry the pureblood witch Pansy Parkinson. You do not have a choice in this. Either you break up with the muggle, or I break you up. It is your choice. And do not ask your mother for help, as I am not afraid to dispose of her too."

Draco could do nothing except stare at his father with his mouth open in shock. He seriously expected him to kill the only woman that had ever shown him love? No way.

"I refuse. If you try to break us up, we will run."

"I won't give you that opportunity my dear boy. I will always find you. You cannot run forever, and I think you know that, don't you?"

Draco dropped his head in defeat and had to fight back the anguished tears forming. He would not show any sign of weakness to his father. But he had no choice. He knew full well that his father would eventually find him, so the only way to save Hermione's life was to end it with her, make her believe he had never loved her. Without saying a word, he left his fathers office and made his way outside where he could apparate to Hermione's house, trying not to let his emotions change his mind. He had to do this, it was the only way to keep her alive.

Hermione was in the kitchen cooking dinner when he stepped into the house, a soft smile on her face. Tonight was the night she was going to tell him. Tell him that she was pregnant, that he was going to be a father. She turned to smile at him, and it took a lot of effort on his part to keep his mouth set in the grim line that it was. The smile left Hermione's face and she looked at him half with confusion, half with worry.

"draco? Is something wrong?"

He was silent, unmoving and unresponsive. Hermione stepped forward and pulled her apron off, before stepping forward to kiss him. Her hands reached up to sup the sides of his face, only to have him roughly grab her and push her away from him, giving her a look of disgust.

"stay away from me, mud blood." he hissed.

Hermione looked at him as if he had just hit her, tears shining in her deep brown eyes.

"d…draco?"

"you have no right to call me that, granger."

"what's wrong? Why are you being like this? I don't understand!"

"are you stupid? You haven't suspected this whole time that I was only in it to break you? Guess what, you've proven yourself, the way you threw yourself at me…you're just a mud blood whore. I never want to see you again."

His heart shattered and he fought back his tears once again as he saw the look on her face. No words could describe the hurt and despair showing in her eyes, and it took every ounce of strength in his body to force himself to walk out the door and slam it shut behind him, but not before he sent a second to glare at her, when inside, he was memorising every minute detail, determined not to forget her or their love for each other that they had shared this past year.

As the door slammed, he stood and faced the house for a few seconds, hearing the loud sobs coming from the woman he had just destroyed, on the other side.

"I am so sorry. I love you" he whispered, before disappearing down the road and into the night.

………………………………......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

11 years ago

Draco and pansy had been married for six and a half years now, yet Draco's heart still ached with the sorrow of leaving Hermione, and to make things worse, he had recently learnt of his fathers plans to turn HIS children into warriors. Not likely. For one, he and pansy had found out recently that pansy was unable to conceive a child, and for two, draco didn't want children with her. Unfortunately, Lucius had found out that Pansy could not conceive, and draco had overheard him discussing with one an ex death eater, that he was going to kill Pansy and have draco marry another pureblood to have children that could be brought up to become his right hand men, and possibly become the next dark lord or even a dark lady.

Draco didn't love Pansy at all, yes he cared for her and would protect her if the need called, but she was more a close friend than anything. However, hearing his fathers plans for her made his blood run cold. The first thing he did was run to his room and wake her up, and within an hour, they had disappeared into hiding, where they had stayed for eleven years….

………………………………......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Three weeks ago

Some days, draco loved nothing more than to escape his life as a wizard. On these days, he usually dressed in muggle clothes and went into the nearest muggle town or city, which for the time being happened to be Nottingham.

A habit that Hermione had gotten him into had been reading. Before he met her, he would only read the school text books, not really being interested in wizard fiction, but while he had been with her, she had introduced him to muggle fiction, and even now, he would always but a couple of new books every time he went into the muggle areas, along with some music. He owned a muggle stereo, but he kept it hidden as he knew Pansy would not hesitate to tell his father if she found his muggle belongings. Pansy was still Pansy, after all.

His eyes scanned the shelves for a book that grabbed his attention, but so far had no luck. He'd been in the bookstore now for nearly an hour, surely something would have appealed by now? Just as he was about to give up his search and find another store, he heard hushed voices from the other side of the shelves.

"come on Blaise, you promised to take me riding today" he heard a girl say.

Blaise? For a moment, draco thought abut his old friend that he had betrayed by leaving Hermione, but he pushed the thought out of his mind. Why would Blaise Zabini be in a muggle bookstore? However, his breath hitched as he heard the girls companion respond.

"I know Jai, but I need to find this book for Hermione, she's been after it for months."

As soon as he heard that, draco wanted to step out and embrace his friend, but knew he couldn't. mainly because Blaise would kill him for what he did all those years ago. Instead, he stepped back and quickly slide out of the shop before he could be seen by the man, with the decision that he would find where Blaise was living and would definitely visit him soon to clear up loose ends and rekindle their old friendship.

However, once again, fate had to be a bitch. A few weeks later, as draco was about to head home, a flash of red sped past him, slicing into his arm, barely leaving him time to respond. Without even waiting to see who had just attacked him, he yelled _stupefy _over his shoulder, and ran. He knew there was only one place to go, and that was Blaise's.

As he reached the house, he paused to catch his breath, and he saw one of the biggest shocks in his life as Harry Potter, the last person he ever imagined, came out of the house and walked down the street, away from draco. Draco didn't pause for long. He hurried up the porch and knocked on the door.

"what have you forgotten…"

Draco could have cried at the sight of his friend, but could only croak out

"Blaise, I'm so sorry, I was wrong"


	5. Hermione Granger

Jaiden was what most people would call strange. She was extremely philosophical at times, yet two minutes later, she would say or do something so unpredicted and completely random, that it left people wondering about her sanity. Today, she had gone from talking about how when you look out of train windows and see towns as you go past and wonder how there are so many places you have never visited in your life, to five seconds later, she was fighting Scott for the last cookie on the plate in the middle of their table, completely throwing everyone off guard, yet causing them all to laugh at the same time. There was never a dull moment with Jaiden around.

However for Jaiden, acting the way she did was her way of covering her pain. When she started saying deep things or philosophically, she usually ended up thinking about her life, how none of her family ever really spoke to her, except for Harry, Ginny and Blaise. Even her own brother and sister hardly spoke to her as she was the outcast of the family, the daughter of the bastard that hurt their mum. Jaiden preferred to act spontaneously as it made her feel as though she was her own person, that she could live her life as she wanted to.

She knew she wasn't fooling enough people though. Scott and Blaise especially saw straight through her, and Ginny, well, Ginny could read her like a book, which scared her on more than one occasion. Most people didn't see through her though, and she was grateful for that as it allowed her to be herself.

Jaiden arrived back at her house in the early evening, and as she entered, she heard Blaise talking to someone, and she froze when she heard the other person reply. For a moment, she contemplated staying, but very quickly changed her mind and opted for the sneaking back out approach. She turned to leave, when the voice stopped her.

"Jaiden? Honey?"

She turned back to face the two people in the room and smiled reluctantly.

"Hi mum." she answered.

Hermione gave her daughter a large smile, that didn't quite reach her eyes and moved towards her, wrapping her arms round her and holding her close. Jaiden suppressed a groan as she returned the embrace. It wasn't that she didn't love her mum, it was just that she had changed a lot after remarrying, and when the kids were born, Jaiden had been pushed to one side. in front of everyone, Hermione showed a great deal of love and compassion for her daughter, yet behind closed doors, Jaiden was ignored and left to her own devices, as Hermione herself had admitted it hurt too much to look at her daughter as she looked so much like her dad. It hurt Jaiden that her mother felt that way, but there was nothing she could do about it, which was one reason she had opted to move away.

Hermione stepped back and observed her daughter, but Jaiden knew she wasn't really looking at her, just making sure she was healthy. Jaiden gave her a forced smile before moving away and dragging her way up to her room. Blaise watched the tension between the pair in confusion, and waited before Jaiden was safely upstairs and in her room before speaking.

"ok. I've noticed the tension before between you two, but never like that. What's going on?"

Hermione looked at him, and at first tried to look as if nothing was wrong, but Blaise stopped her with just a single look. Instead, she sighed and flopped down onto the nearest chair.

"I don't know. I guess all her life really, I've been slightly distant to her. The minute she was placed in my arms and his eyes looked back at me, I completely broke down. Every time I look at her, I see him, and it hurts so much. Especially now that I know he lives in this city, I worry every day that she will see him, and turn her back on me."

As soon as she said that, she broke down crying. Blaise pulled her into a hug, and even though he was angry with her for treating her daughter like that for her life, he couldn't help but still feel sorry for her as she went through hell when Draco left. He looked up to the top of the stairs to see Jaiden standing at the top of them, her face screwed up in hurt and anger, tears running down her face, and gripping the handrail so hard, he was surprised she hadn't broken it. He opened his mouth to speak, but she just shook her head and moved back into her room. A few seconds later, he heard her window open, and when he looked towards the back door, she dropped down before running off up the garden. He sighed and Hermione pulled away.

"what's wrong?"

Blaise told her that Jaiden had just gone, and at first, she was all for chasing after her, but Blaise explained that he didn't mind as long as she had her phone. To emphasise his point, he picked up the house phone and rang Jaiden. She answered and told him she needed to clear her head for a bit. He put the phone down and gave Hermione's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"she's strong, and she'll be fine. Now you better be heading home to Jason."

Hermione thanked him before apparating back to her home. As soon as she left, the smile left Blaise's face to be replaced by a look of anger. How dare she treat her child like that? The look on Jaiden's face replayed over and over in his mind, until the anger got too much for him and he turned and punched the wall, successfully denting it and splitting three knuckles open in the process.


	6. Flying

As soon as her feet touched solid ground, Jaiden broke out into a run, knowing full well that while Blaise would let her go, her mum was more likely to chase after her, which was something she'd rather not have to deal with. Once she was a safe distance away from the house, her run slowed to a walk as she caught her breath. It didn't take long before she reached a secluded park near to the campus where Scott lived. She quickly moved over to the swings and sat down heavily on one, gently pushing herself to relieve some of the tension building up.

Once she started thinking clearly again, she flopped on to the floor and lay with her back on the grass so that she could gaze up at the starts, something she had done since she was very young. It had been Ginny who had taught her all about the constellations, and she had also taught her that when you see a particularly bright star, it meant that a angel was smiling down on you. Jaiden had always loved to think that, and tonight, she smiled as there were three big, bright stars that stood out amongst all the others.

She sighed, not quite with any emotion, more just a sight to clear her feelings. She loved her mum, but just couldn't be around her for long periods of time anymore, even if she wanted to, she couldn't. She just couldn't cope with the look of pain in her mum's eyes every time she looked at her. Jaiden wasn't one to dwell on those sorts of things, but whenever she saw her mum, she was moved into a state of near depression, but thankfully, it only lasted a short while.

When Blaise appeared half an hour later, Jaiden raised her hand into a friendly wave to let him know that she was ok. As he came over, she noticed his hand and gasped.

"what on earth?"

"she said something that struck a nerve"

She tried to find out what her mum had said, but as Blaise refused to tell her anymore, she realised that it must have involved her in some way, which made her go quiet again. Blaise didn't like it when Jaiden was in one of her depressed moods, so to cheer her up, he offered to go out for a fly with her.

"really? Man, it's been ages since we last did that!"

One thing that definitely differentiated Jaiden from Hermione was flying. Hermione detested flying and had a huge phobia of it. Her daughter on the other hand, adored it, which had been reflected in her when she received her first broom on her thirteenth birthday (a present from Harry and Blaise), and within five minutes of being on it, was flying like a pro. Even Hermione had to agree that Jaiden had an extraordinary amount of talent on a broomstick, and anyone who watched her could easily see that she would make an excellent seeker. She had the right build, but also had sharp, keen eyes and killer reflexes, even beating Harry on more than one occasion when he brought his snitch over for them to practise with.

Blaise apparate back to the house to retrieve their brooms, and within five minutes, the pair of them were up in the air, diving, swooping and rolling. Jaiden looked down at the ground at one point, and subconsciously, her mind thought about her dad, and how he lived down there somewhere. As she thought it, a house suddenly popped into view from out of nowhere, causing Jaiden to nearly tumble off her broom in shock. She halted the broom and looked hard at the building. She knew where it was, but she had never seen it before. That was when it hit her- that must be her dad's house!

Blaise noticed that Jaiden had stopped and turned to call her and see if she was alright. Hearing him speak brought her back to her sensed and she spurred her broom forward to rejoin her godfather. Inside her head, she made a mental map of where she saw the house, determined that as soon as she was able to, she would head over there and see her father.

She wanted to find out the truth. Did he really hate her mum? Or was he forced to do it?

She needed to know, so that she could move on with her life knowing that even if it was only that one time, she had at least seen her dad, and that she could move on whether he was there for her, or even if he wasn't.

She had to see him.


	7. Meeting

The next few weeks went by so smoothly, Blaise actually began to think that maybe the incident with Draco had been a dream, well, he would think that if it wasn't for the fact that there was a small bloodstain on the sofa that he hadn't been able to clean off. Jaiden had asked him why there was blood on the sofa, and he told her that he cut himself. He knew she didn't believe him but he was thankful that she didn't pry for the truth. No, she was more the find out for herself type.

Jaiden was up in her room studying for one of her mid-term exams when Blaise knocked on her door to tell her he was leaving. He was staying over at Harry's for a few days as the Lucius Malfoy case had become a much higher priority after he was spotted twice more near Hermione's house, and Harry needed Blaise's help to track him down. Jaiden had decided to take this opportunity to pay her dad a little visit, see if he knew about her, or even if he cared.

She gave Blaise a hug and waited until he had apparated before running back upstairs, grabbing her broom and her bag that contained her birth certificate, a DNA test confirming that he was her father, and a photo album containing pictures of her from throughout her life. If he did show any interest in her, she at least wanted him to know what she looked like as a baby. She jumped onto her broom and kicked off, making sure to keep out of muggle eyesight.

Before long she saw the house she had discovered the other day looming towards her. Knowing full well that any muggle wouldn't even see the building, she made her descent before dismounting her broom and stepping through the barrier that was around the house. As she moved up to the front door, it burst open and what looked like a middle aged woman came out, pointing her wand at Jaiden's throat. As she looked at Jaiden though, her mouth dropped open.

"Draco?" the woman asked.

"How do you know my dad?" Jaiden asked.

The woman glared at that and raised her wand again, telling Jaiden to move into the house. Jaiden did so, but rolled her eyes, which earned her a slap across the back of her head, which made her grit her teeth before she could get herself into more trouble.

The woman pulled her along many different corridors, until they eventually stopped in front of a dark oak door. The woman knocked on it once before walking in, pulling Jaiden and moving her so that she was in front of her. Jaiden found herself looking at a large desk, with a chair behind it that was currently facing the wall behind it, meaning she couldn't see who occupied the chair.

"Draco, you need to look at this"

Jaiden gasped. Her dad? Was she finally about to see him? She heard a sigh from the occupant of the chair before it began to turn their direction.

"What is it now Pansy?"

The chair fully turned and he completely froze as he saw her. Jaiden gave him a small smile and wave, then winced as the woman, who she now knew to be called pansy, jerked her arm and told her to stay still. Draco frowned at her before standing up and taking hold of Jaiden's other arm in a much softer grasp, asking Pansy to leave him alone with the teenager for a bit. Pansy opened her mouth to argue, but one look from Draco stopped her and she stormed out of the room.

Draco waited until she had shut the door before turning to face Jaiden. Suddenly she felt nervous, and looked down at her feet as she shuffled them. She heard him stand up and walk towards her, and she jumped as he put a hand under her chin and pushed her head up to face him.

"You're Hermione's daughter aren't you?" he asked.

She nodded, not knowing what to say or how to act. He smiled, before suddenly pulling her into a large embrace.

"I have a daughter" he whispered.

Jaiden nodded and felt a few tears slip down her face. When he pulled away, he wiped the tears off her face and gave her a smile.

"So, how'd you find me?" he asked.

They sat down by a fireplace at the end of the room, and after Draco had conjured up two chairs and made a fire, they sat down and Jaiden told him everything about herself, and in return he told her everything about himself.


	8. Mornings

The following morning, Jaiden woke up to find herself lying in a giant four poster bed, covered with an emerald green voile round all four railings. She stretched and felt the silver satin covers shuffle beneath her, and she smiled softly as she stroked them. She finally felt complete now that she had met her dad face to face, but the hard thing was going to be going back to her muggle life and pretending to everyone that it hadn't happened and that she still did not know anything about him.

There was a soft knock on the door and her dad popped his head in the room, giving her a large smile.

"how are you?"

"fine thanks. Ummm, do you have any food by any chance?"

Draco let out a small laugh at that, but Jaiden could see the sadness reflected in his eyes. One of Hermione's traits that she had inherited was that she was starving every time she woke up and needed to eat.

Draco waited for her to dress before leading her down to the dining room, where he called one of the house elves and asked them to make scrambled egg on toast. As the elf plodded off to get started, he turned back to Jaiden.

"what juice do you like?"

"d'you have tropical anywhere?"

"we sure do."

He moved over to a cupboard and pulled out a glass, before pointing his wand at it and muttering a spell. Jaiden smiled as the glass filled with juice and it then grew legs and walked over to her as Draco muttered another spell.

"you so have to teach me that."

Draco's jaw dropped slightly and he lowered his wand. The glass in Jaiden's hand stilled its movements and she pouted slightly as she had found it funny to watch.

"you know magic?" he asked.

"yep. I didn't go to Hogwarts or anything, but I asked mum to teach me, and she finally agreed, but only after Harry, Ginny and Blaise persuaded her to. She still thinks I know mainly basic stuff, when I actually know enough that I beat Blaise in a duel last month."

Draco found that funny as he started chuckling and within a few seconds he was laughing outright. When he calmed down, he looked at Jaiden and she smiled at him.

"you actually beat Blaise?"

"barely, but yeah."

"impressive. That's really amazing"

She didn't quite know what to say to that, as she felt a bit embarrassed, so she just coughed slightly and took a gulp of her drink, avoiding her dad's gaze and taking the minute to have a look around the room. To look at, anyone would have thought that it was a muggle kitchen, minus the everyday accessories such as a toaster and a microwave. Well, the small cauldron that was bubbling on the stove with a bright yellow liquid in it also gave it away that this wasn't an ordinary muggle house.

A house elf popped into the room at that point, and bowed at both of them, before turning to the cauldron and scooping out a load of the potion, placing it into a beaker and then scuttling back out of the room, bowing to them again. Jaiden smiled as it left. She had always found house elves to be kind of cute, in a strange sort of way. She was curious about the potion though, so she slid off the chair she was sitting on and peered over the cauldron. The potion smelt faintly of lemon, and as she peered closer, she noticed a faint swirl of silver in it.

"hausith potion?"

"how did you know that? That is extremely advanced magic!"

"I enjoy potions. Plus, Ginny bought me a really advanced book on healing potions about a year ago, and I know every single one of them. I've tried a few on myself too, and they work brilliantly."

"you really are her daughter."

"and yours too, or so I'm told."

It was his turn to turn away with embarrassment that time, and Jaiden suppressed a grin, instead wandering who it was in the house that was needing a potion for curing cancer. The only people she had met so far were Draco and Pansy, but she didn't think either of them had it. She turned back to look at Draco, and he offered to take her home before Blaise returned and found her missing.


	9. Rude Awakening

"so did you have a good time home alone?"

Jaiden started at Blaise's voice. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she had forgotten that he was there.

"huh?"

Blaise sighed, knowing that something was wrong with her. He had been home now for almost a week, but Jaiden had been permanently spaced out.

"ok young lady. What did you do?"

"what do you mean?"

"ever since I got back, you've been acting strange, which leads me to the conclusion that you've done something you shouldn't have done, or more something you're mother banned you from?"

Jaiden froze and her back shot straight as if she'd just had a rod shoved up her back. She knew full well that she had been caught out, but found herself not feeling as bad as she knew she should. With a sigh, she sank back down so that her head was resting on the kitchen counter, and she looked up at Blaise, who was giving her a knowing smile.

"you found him didn't you?"

"yeah" she sighed.

She buried her head in her arms, expecting a lecture, but was completely shocked as an arm came round her shoulders and she was given a gentle squeeze.

"to be honest, I'm not surprised. You inherited your mother's stubbornness after all."

Jaiden laughed a bit at that, and stood up, moving over to the dining room table so that she could do some extra work. Blaise moved into the living room, and Jaiden thought she heard him talking to someone but a few seconds later, it was silent again, so she brushed it off, and put her I-pod on, continuing her work. A few minutes later, a pale hand waved in front of her face, and she glared up expecting it to be Blaise, but jumping in shock when she saw her dad, not Blaise standing there.

"dad?"

"hello"

"what're you doing here?"

Blaise walked in at that moment, and Jaiden smiled at him, her eyes sparkling with a happiness he hadn't seen for years. He smiled back and sat on one of the vacant chairs, pulling one of her notebooks towards him and reading a few lines, before pushing it back and scrunching his face in confusion.

"yeah, I still don't understand a word of that."

Jaiden grinned again, and Draco smiled warmly as he saw how his best friend and daughter interacted with each other.

The happiness was short lived however as there was a sudden knock on the door. Jaiden stood up to answer it, and ended up with Pansy falling on top of her.

"Lucius…found us" she whispered.

"umm, dad?!" she called.

Draco came out of the room and stopped dead as he watched Pansy. Yes it was her in body, but her eyes were vacant, dead, and it was at that minute he realised she wasn't going to be alive much longer. He ran up to her and picked her up, laying her down on the settee and holding her as she slipped away. He cried as he held her as even though he never really loved her, he had grown to deeply care for her.

Blaise put a hand on Jaiden's shoulder and moved her out of the room, before asking her if Pansy said anything.

"she said that Lucius found them."

Panic briefly flashed across Blaise's face. There was a loud noise in the living room, and they moved in to find Pansy's body gone.

"what happened?" Jaiden asked.

"I moved her body into the Malfoy tomb. I will inform her parents in the morning."

Blaise put a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder, offering him the settee for the night as it was too dangerous now for him to return home, especially now that Lucius knew where he was.

While Blaise disappeared upstairs to gather a blanket for Draco, Jaiden sat down next to her dad and put an arm round him. He squeezed her back, and accepted her offer of a hot chocolate, even though he had no idea what one actually was.

"nature's emotional healer" she winked.

she handed him the steaming mug, and as he took his first tentative sip, his mouth split open in a smile and his eyes lit up.

"this is amazing!"

"told ya. Hot chocolate is the cure for everything, that is my belief."

"thank you."

Jaiden smiled at him again, and they both returned to sipping their drinks, laughing when Blaise nearly tripped down the stairs headfirst.

………………………………......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

The following morning, the occupants of the house had a very rude awakening, as a piercing scream tore through the house. Jaiden sat up in shock and flew out of bed, grabbing her hoody and throwing it on as she ran downstairs, Blaise fell out of bed and landed in a groaning heap on the floor before stumbling after Jaiden, and Draco merely opened his eyes and casually sat up, looking over to the source of the scream.

Jaiden ran into the living room, and froze in complete terror, before she started shaking. Blaise appeared before her, and his mouth and eyes widened as far as they could go. Even Draco stood up and moved away from their visitor. A pair of deep chocolate brown eyes glared fiercely at Blaise and Jaiden, and both of them flinched from the intensity, especially as the shock and pain also reflected in said eyes.

Hermione Granger had arrived.


	10. Uh, Oh!

Hermione stood next to the sofa, her hands on her hips, her eyes wild with anger and hurt. She stared at the three people in the room, waiting for one of them to speak.

"well? What's going on!?" she yelled.

Jaiden took a step forward to speak, but the look that was sent her way shut her up and she sank back again. Draco moved and put a comforting hand on his daughter's shoulder, but it just made Hermione's eyes flash even more wildly.

"get your hands off her! You have no right to be near her after what you did to us! And YOU!" she said turning to Blaise and poking his chest "how could you betray me like this?"

As she said this, she suddenly burst out crying and moved out of the living room into the kitchen, slamming the door behind her.

Blaise and Jaiden exchanged looks, and Draco watched with amusement as the pair of them had a quick round of rock, paper, scissors to determine who would go to see the fuming witch. Blaise won, and Jaiden found herself reluctantly heading towards the kitchen, afraid of what was going to happen to her as she opened the door. Nothing happened as she opened it, so she breathed a slight sigh of relief and moved completely into the room, shutting it behind her.

Hermione was standing by the sink, her face buried in her hands, sobs wracking through her body. Jaiden stepped up to her and put an arm round her, fully expecting Hermione to push her away, but to her shock, Hermione pulled her closer to her.

"why didn't you tell me Jaiden?"

"I only found him a couple of days ago mum, and to be honest I was scared that if I told you, you would stop me from seeing him, and I just don't want that."

"but Jaiden, he left me, he didn't want to know!"

"I don't think it was him mum! I think someone said something to him to make him do it"

"and who would do that?"

"Lucius?"

Hermione's eyes snapped open at that and she gazed at her daughter. She forgot sometimes just how intelligent and observant her daughter really was.

Deep down, she knew that Draco had never wanted to hurt her, but they had both moved on with their lives, and she wasn't ready to just forgive him yet, and she wasn't sure she wanted him being near her daughter in case he hurt her like he had done all those years ago. She sighed, knowing that she was defeated.

"ok. I'm not about to forgive him, but if you want to see him, I wont stop you. Just don't let him hurt you, please."

Jaiden threw her arms round her mother and cried softly on her shoulder. There were times she nearly hated Hermione, and then she would go and do something like this. After a few minutes, the pair of them moved back into the living room to see that both Blaise and Draco had changed into decent clothes while they had been talking. Hermione walked up to Draco and held her hand out, he took it and shook it before raising it to his lips and kissing the back of it.

Jaiden smiled as she saw this, especially as she noticed her mum blushing very slightly as she took her hand back. Blaise came up behind her and put an arm casually round her shoulder.

"so, how did you persuade her to do that."

"sorry but that's confidential" Hermione stated.

Draco moved over to Jaiden and took her hands in his, giving her a warm and loving look.

"I promise, I will do anything I can for you, even if it kills me."

"just promise me one thing"

"anything"

"please don't go after Lucius. I know he killed Pansy, but please don't let yourself be killed by him. I only just found you, I don't want to lose you again"

Draco pulled her into a hug, and she leant against his chest, breathing in deeply to stop herself from crying.

Hermione watched the pair of them with a fresh onslaught of tears filling her eyes, but she fiercely pushed them back. She finally understood now why Draco had left. It had been Lucius the whole time, threatening to kill her, just so that the Malfoy name would not be tainted. She could see the pure love shining in Draco's eyes. It had been the look he had once given her, and she felt an ache in her heart as she realised she was still that bit in love with him. It was hard to have a child with someone and not care for them at all, but she knew that she cared a lot more than she should have done. Something registered in her mind then, that caused her to ask Draco something.

"what did she mean, Lucius killed Pansy? Pansy Parkinson?"

Draco nodded before telling her about the events of last night, and as he spoke it suddenly occurred to him that he actually didn't have anywhere to live at that minute. Blaise clapped him on the back and grinned at him.

"we have a spare room, you can stay here with us if you like."

Draco looked towards Hermione, and she gave a tiny smile and a nod. Draco turned back to Blaise and accepted his offer, and the three adults began laughing as Jaiden whooped and jumped in the air, punching her fist upwards as she did.

Everything was going to be ok, she just knew it.


	11. Lucius!

_Two months later_

Jaiden hated being wrong, especially when everything had been going so well. It started off as a normal day, with Scott coming round after their lectures to copy up some of her notes from the day he missed due to illness at the beginning of the week. As it was Friday, he decided to stay round so that they could watch some movies and he could properly catch up on how Jaiden's life had been going since her dad had reappeared. He had been ecstatic for her when she came flying up to him the day after her dad moved in and gave him the news, and he had to admit, Jaiden was like a completely new, and more fun, person since then.

After they had finished their work, the pair of them dumped their stuff in the dining room before moving into the kitchen. Scott sat on one of the counters as Jaiden pulled a couple of pizzas out of the freezer and shoved them in the oven before preparing the salad and the garlic bread they were having with it.

"So where's Blaise and your dad?" he asked.

Jaiden put the salad in a bowl before looking over her shoulder at him to answer.

"They're at work. The owled me earlier to say that something had come up and they wouldn't be back until about midnight-ish."

"Oh, cool."

They were in the middle of tucking into their pizza, when Jaiden heard the front door knock. She stood up to get it, but a feeling in her stomach told her to be careful so before she answered, she reached into her bag and pulled her wand out. Scott saw the wand and as she moved to the front door, he quickly ran upstairs, not wanting to be around if people were about to start firing spells.

Jaiden opened the door, and at first she thought it was her dad there, except this person had waist length hair and a few more wrinkles than Draco. She gasped and took a step back as she realised who it was.

"Hello. I was wondering, is this the Zabini residence?"

Jaiden shook her head, trying to calm her nerves. Her right hand was hidden behind the door clutching her wand, and she calmed slightly, knowing that if her were to do anything she could at least defend herself.

"I'm sorry sir, but you have the wrong address."

He raised an eyebrow at her and smiled, a cold, heartless smile that sent a shiver running down Jaiden's back.

"No, I don't think I have got the right address, Miss Malfoy"

Jaiden gasped, but as he took a step forward and raised his wand, she had a wave of adrenaline surge through her.

"_Stupefy_!" she screamed.

Lucius flew backwards, and Jaiden slammed the door shut.

"_Silencio_" she said to the door. "Scott! Get your butt out of my room!"

Scott came out, white and shaking. Jaiden gave him a sympathetic look.

"Scott, I need you to run. Go out my window and use the drainpipe. Go and get my dad, use my owl if you must. Just do it!"

He ran and Jaiden moved to run into the kitchen. As she reached the kitchen door, she saw Scott run off and sighed in relief. She suddenly had an idea. She moved fast, knowing that she barely had any time left before Lucius would recover from her jinx. She grasped the pot of floo power from near the fireplace and threw some into the flames before quickly pushing her head in it.

"Minister of magic's office!" She yelled

She soon found herself looking up at Harry and Draco, who both gave her identical looks of surprise.

"Get over here, Lucius is here!"

"Quickly, jump into the fire!" Draco called.

"I won't have enough time!" She cried, hearing the front door open.

As soon as she said that, there was a loud bang as the living room door exploded, and a pair of hands pulled her out of the fire.

She started coughing as soot flew up her nose, and she struggled to pull her wand out of her jeans, finally succeeding as she also broke free of his grasp. She looked up at Lucius and his lip curled upwards in a smirk. He raised his wand and she too raised her own, but before either of them could mutter a spell, there were two cracks from the front door, announcing the arrival of Draco and Harry. Jaiden tried to move to get to them, but Lucius said a spell that she didn't recognise, and she suddenly felt as though someone had just smacked her over the head with a sledgehammer. She felt someone pick her up, preventing her from collapsing onto the floor and the last thing she heard before she completely passed out was Draco calling my name out in fear, followed by the crack that signalled that Lucius had apparated with her.

She was in trouble. And there was nothing she could do about it.


	12. Numb with Cold

Jaiden cracked one eye open, prying that everything had just been a nasty dream. Unfortunately, fate was not on her side, and as she looked around, she saw that she was on a stone floor, with stone walls, and bars at the front. Great, a prison cell. Probably magical too so she couldn't just charm her way out. She groaned and lay her head back on the floor, wincing as she felt a pain in it. She sat back up and raised a hand to her head to find she had a cut across it. How on earth did that happen? Oh wait, she remembered hitting her head off the fireplace when Lucius grabbed her.

She heard a chuckle from behind her and stood up to face the person. Lucius stepped into the cell and sent her an icy smile.

"What, no hug for your grandfather?" he asked.

Jaiden glared at him and took a step back as he moved towards her. She kept moving back until she was backed against the wall, and as Lucius moved closer, she tried to bolt, but he was too fast for her and grabbed her arm before slamming her into the wall, and pinning her there with a spell.

"What do you want with me!?" she screamed.

Lucius's eyes flashed. He hated it when anyone raised their voice to him. He stepped forward and gave Jaiden a sharp slap to the face. She whimpered slightly at the pain, before he forced her to look at him.

"All will be revealed in good time my dear, but for now, I hope you enjoy your new lodgings."

He flicked his wand, and Jaiden dropped to the floor, yelling as she landed straight on her left knee. Lucius gazed down at her before sneering and walking away, shutting the cell behind him as he did.

As soon as he left, Jaiden curled her self up and hugged her knees, crying softly. Why was he doing this to her? Deep down, she had a gut feeling that it wasn't really her that he wanted, it was her parents, and she was the easiest way to get them here. She wished she had've been faster to jump into the floo channel, at least then she wouldn't be here. How long had she been out for? That was the main thing she wondered.

No sooner had she thought this, than a popping noise came from behind her and she lifted her head up to see a small house elf smiling warmly at her.

"I have food and water for you." it squeaked.

"How long have I been down here?" Jaiden asked.

"Only two days" It replied before disappearing with another pop.

Jaiden sighed and moved over to the food, scrunching her nose up at the smell. It tasted just as bad but she forced it down anyway, not knowing when she would have another meal. She gulped the water down to, and placed both items by the front of the cell, before moving to one of the corners and huddling herself up again. It was freezing in there.

Nothing and no one came anywhere near her for a long time, in fact it was so long, she couldn't quite work out if it had merely been hours or whether she had actually been there for nearing twenty four hours now. She was shivering uncontrollably, each tremor adding to her coldness. Her skin had gone almost grey, and she could feel that her lips were blue, maybe even purple by now. She knew she should have been afraid when Lucius turned up again, but she was just so cold, she had gone numb. Even her mind and emotions were numb.

The sneer appeared on Lucius's face again, and Jaiden shivered again, this time with fear rather than the cold. Her stomach was churning she was so hungry and she felt so weak she could hardly move. Even when Lucius lifted her off the floor and every fibre of her being screamed out in protest, she could only let out a tiny moan that was barely audible. Lucius moved up to her and pulled her closer to him so that his face was close to hers.

"Just answer me this one question, and all this will be over. Now, where is Harry Potter's residence?"

As soon as he asked, Jaiden's eyes widened with panic, but it quickly turned to anger, and ignoring the agony her body was in, she shook her head and forced herself to speak.

"I will never tell you!" she tried to yell, but all that came out was a weak croak.

Lucius said nothing, instead, he just dropped her to the floor and strode out of the room, casting her an icily glare.

"We'll see. You will tell me, even if I have to leave here until you die."

With that, he disappeared, and once ore, Jaiden huddled herself up. The house elf popped next to her again and gave her a bowl of steaming soup with a cool drink of water and a slice of bread. Jaiden ate very slowly and only sipped at her drink knowing not to overdo it. The elf stayed with her this time, and when she gave it the half empty bowl and glass back, it patted her softly on the hand, sympathy on its face

"Thank you." Jaiden said.

"I am sorry for him doing this. If there was anything I could do."

"There is. I know he will punish you if he finds out, but I need you to tell my father where I am. I beg you"

The elf looked terrified at the idea, but Jaiden suddenly grabbed the bowl and emptied what little she had eaten back into the bowl. She handed the bowl back to the elf and apologised.

"Don't be. I aint promising nothing, but I will try to tell Master Draco you are here."

"Thank you."

"Now I must leave. Helga is on strict ruled to not feed you, but I just can't watch. I can only come after the master had been as that is the only time I know he will not suddenly arrive and catch me."

"I understand. Now, go before he catches you."

As she left, Jaiden felt a strange sadness in my stomach, but also a relief to know that the elf would try as hard as possible to help her. Maybe, just maybe, she would get out of this in one piece.

If she wasn't killed first.


	13. Horror

_I am so sorry for the delay in updating, I've had such bad wirter's block for this story! But don't fear, I will be uploading this chapter and the next two chapters very soon, as I've now found that I have loads of ideas and can't stop writing! Please R+R and I hope you enjoy!_

The longer she was there, the more desperate Jaiden became. She wanted to go home and see her family, she wanted to sleep where she didn't have the fear that at any given minute her grandfather was going to walk through the door and start torturing her again. She was beginning to give up hope. Every day she grew weaker and weaker, to the point that she blacked out almost immediately last time she was beaten. She was rapidly losing weight and she knew that if she didn't eat she would die, but she physically didn't have the strength to lift her head to eat. She was fully aware that she was dying, but still, she didn't give up hope that her parents would save her before it was too late.

After one particularly brutal beating, she decided enough was enough. After struggling for a long time, she managed to sit herself by the door. She was left alone for a few days this time, and this gave her enough time to slowly regain her strength and energy. The house elf that had helped her brought her as much food as possible, and slowly, she felt her strength return, and with it, her determination. The next time Lucius came into her, he was surprised to find that she wasn't curled up on the floor like she had been the past three times he'd been down to see her. He was even more surprised when he turned round and felt something solid hit the side of his head, sending him crashing to the ground.

Jaiden unclenched her throbbing fist and looked down at the man lying on the floor. With smug satisfaction she gathered enough strength to kick him in the ribs and felt even more satisfied when she heard the loud crack that followed as one of his ribs broke. Knowing he would wake soon, she slowly made her way out of the cell, slamming the door behind her and making sure to lock it. She stumbled her way out to the main part of the house and walked around, trying to find anywhere that would remind her of her time here when she first met her dad. Finally, she spotted the familiar corridor that led to the room she had stayed in, and with a relieved smile, she made her way over to the door.

Just as she reached it, she could hear loud noises coming from elsewhere within the house. She panicked and moved as quickly as she could until she was inside the familiar surroundings. She remembered seeing a pot of floo powder by the fireplace when she had last been here, and she moved over to it. there was no fire in the hearth though, and she knew she didn't have much time, so she stuffed some of the powder into her pocket and moved back out of the room, and walked around, avoiding the direction of the noises, and towards somewhere that would hopefully have a fire going, the entrance hall.

After searching for what felt like hours, she finally found a fire to her relief and with a small sob of happiness she slowly moved towards it, jumping at the slightest noises that came from around her. She didn't reach the fireplace though, as she passed a door and Lucius stepped out, a murderous glare on his face. She yelped as he roughly grasped her, and as he started hitting her, she fought desperately to not black out. For a moment, she thought she saw the fire behind her glow green and somebody stepped out, but a blink later showed no difference to the pain she was going through, and she realised with sorrow that she was alone this time, and nobody was going to save her in time.

Something about the way she was being tortured this time told her that this was t. This was going to be the end of her if she didn't do something big to fight back. She looked around the room at the various objects scattered around, and a small smile came to her face as she noticed a suit of armour complete with a sword standing in the room next to them. She quickly gathered her strength and pushed against Lucius, momentarily catching him off guard and knocking his balance, and she ran in the room, grasping hold of the sword and drawing it out of its hold before turning to face her grandfather. When she turned though, he wasn't there. Confused, Jaiden moved back into the other room, worried that it was a trap, but he had gone. She slowly moved from room to room, and eventually found herself in a large open room. The sight that greeted her though was to haunt her for the rest of her life.

The first thing she noticed was her younger sister lying on the floor curled up next to her brother. Jason sat behind the pair of them, holding them both closely to him. Jaiden gasped in horror.

"Claudy? James? Jason?"

All three snapped their heads up to look at her and even though they were all clearly terrified, she didn't miss the relief in all of their faces when they realised she was alive. She ran forward and threw her arms round them all, trying hard not to cry. Jason looked at her deeply.

"You have to run, and get away."

"Not without you. Why are you here?"

"I think your grandfather has plans for us. Because we're associated with Hermione."

Jaiden's eyes widened in fear as she pieced together what he had just told her. She knew full well that they wouldn't be leaving alive, and there was no way she was going to let that happen. She grabbed Claudine and pulled her up into her arms, then gestured for Jason and James to follow her. They had barely reached the door when it slammed shut, preventing them from escaping.

"Leaving so soon?"

They turned and faced Lucius, and Jaiden immediately moved her sister behind her as she caught sight of the wand pointing straight at the eleven year olds chest. Lucius smirked, and with a flick of his wand, Jaiden felt herself being ripped away from her family and thrown against a wall, where an invisible force pinned her down so she could only watch helplessly as the events unfolded in front of her.

The three muggles looked terrified as Lucius advanced towards them. Claudine had even started crying, and not even her father's embrace could save her. Lucius glanced over to his granddaughter and sent her a chilling smile.

"You're next"

He turned back to the group and raised his wand, looking directly at Jason the whole time. He pushed his two children away and they both fell to the floor, as he stood in front of them and spread his arms out.

"NO DON'T!!! RUN!!" Jaiden screamed but even she knew it was no use.

Jason shook his head and turned a soft smile to his step daughter.

"Tell Hermione I love her and I'll look after the children."

Jaiden had no chance to reply as a second later, a flash of green light filled the room and the lifeless body of Jason crumpled to the floor. Two sets of screamed and a furious yell filled the room, and Jaiden desperately tried to break free of her bonds, to no avail. She screamed in fear as she watched James charge towards Lucius only to have his body join his father's just a few seconds later. Finally, Lucius rounded on Claudine. He paused for a brief moment, before moving towards her, his smile growing larger as she moved away with each step he took.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" She screamed.

Lucius ignored her, and his smile became a laugh as he watched the young girl trip over and fall to the floor before looking up at him in panic. His wand was raised once again, and Jaiden screamed as loudly as she could with anger and terror, pushing every ounce of her being into breaking the bond. To everyone's shock, she suddenly fell away from the wall, and ran to her sister, pushing her away from the curse as it narrowly missed them. Lucius looked around in amazement and Jaiden stood holding onto her sobbing sister.

"How did you...?"

"Maybe my hatred of you got me down." She glared.

Lucius sent her a quick glare and moved forward, too quickly for Jaiden to escape. He grabbed hold of one of Jaiden's arms and roughly threw her across the room. Jaiden cried out as she slammed against the wall, but she found herself in too much pain stand, and could only watch with tears pouring down her face and sobs threatening to break as he moved towards her trembling sister and quickly ending her life. Jaiden would never forget the looks of fear on each person's face as they died, and she knew that the last scream her sister produced as her life was taken would forever haunt her. She screamed as she watched Claudine fall, but she froze as Lucius turned to face her.

"Now, it's your turn."


	14. Rescue

Jaiden used all of her remaining strength to stand and flung herself at Lucius, thrusting her shoulder into him, knocking his wand out of his hand, and sending him crashing onto the floor. She took a few pained breaths then took one last look at her siblings and stepfather before chocking back her tears and running away from the horrific scene. It didn't take her very long to reach the fireplace she had seen earlier, and to her relief it was still alight. She saw some floo powder on the floor from where she had dropped it earlier and so she ran over and bent down to pick some up. As she stood, a wave of dizziness hit her and she felt herself swaying, desperately trying to cling onto the edge of consciousness. Eventually her head calmed and she quickly moved back over to the fireplace.

Just as she reached her arm out to the flames and threw the powder into them, turning them green, a hand reached out and grabbed her arm. She screamed loudly but a hand quickly covered her mouth. The person turned her round and she closed her eyes in fear of who it was, but her eyes flew open in shock when she felt herself being pulled into an embrace.

"Thank God I got here in time."

She stepped back in shock and as her eyes met an identical pair to her own, she flung herself into his arms.

"Dad! Oh my God!"

She let her anguished and uncontrollable sobs out, relief flooding through her because she knew she was safe, yet guilt too knowing that just two minutes earlier and her siblings and stepfather would also be alive too. Draco held onto her as tightly as he dared, cradling her and muttering soothing words as he looked over her body, shaking with anger at the deep wounds he could see. He heard a noise coming from his side and quickly glanced up, slightly relaxing when he realised it was just Blaise. The look on his friend's face stopped him from completely relaxing.

"What is it?" He asked, still holding Jaiden as she sobbed.

Blaise glanced down at Jaiden and his heart melted to see her so scared and vulnerable. Sympathy also flooded through him as he realised that she had seen what he had just found the remains of.

"Jason, James and Claudine."

Draco's eyes widened in shock.

"They're here?"

Blaise nodded, but the way his eyes fell to the floor made Draco realise that what he was about to hear was in no way, shape or form, going to be good news.

"They're dead"

Jaiden sobbed even harder at the words, and Draco was quick to hold her even tighter, as her knees buckled from beneath her, his heart filling with grief for his daughter. His thoughts then went to Hermione, and he felt even more grief, knowing how hard it was going to hit her when he told her that not only was her husband gone, but so were her two youngest children. He turned a cold gaze up to Blaise, who wasn't surprised at his friend's rage.

"We have to get out of here. Lucius is still here somewhere."

Jaiden stiffened at the mention of her grandfather, and she quickly nodded, muttering that she just wanted to go home. Draco gave her a comforting squeeze and they all moved towards the fire as quickly as Jaiden's injuries allowed so that they could leave, when they all heard footsteps quickly and loudly approaching from behind them.

"Not so fast."

Jaiden let out a small scream as she saw Lucius. Draco let go of Jaiden and handed her over to Blaise before drawing his wand and readying himself for battle. Blaise pulled Jaiden towards the fire and she could only watch in horror as her father started duelling with her grandfather. Just as the flames turned green from the floo powder that Blaise threw, Draco was hit by a curse in the chest, and he fell to the floor, almost completely immobile.

"DAD!!!!!"

He turned to look at her.

"G...go" He croaked, then coughed with the effort of talking.

Jaiden shook her head as fresh tears began to fall, and she stepped forwards to do **anything** to help, but Blaise quickly wrapped one of his arms round her, preventing her from doing so, knowing that this was Draco's fight, and he would rather die than see his daughter hurt any more, or even killed when it could have been prevented. Jaiden started to scream hysterically as she tried to break free, but she had nowhere near enough strength to be able to free herself. She watched with fearful eyes as Draco raised his wand towards Lucius, and suddenly both men threw a spell at each other. The room was suddenly filled with a bright light, and as Blaise pulled Jaiden into the fire, the last thing she saw as the light faded was her dad lying on the floor, now completely motionless.

As they came out of the fireplace at the other end, Jaiden continued to scream and cry hysterically, pounding on her godfather's chest as he tried to calm her. She felt another pair of arms wrap round her, and calmed only slightly as her pounding stilled, and she let herself be pulled into her mother's embrace. She watched as Blaise, followed by Harry, quickly moved back into the flames, and as they disappeared, she turned her gaze to her mother, her heart swelling with sorrow as she fought back the pain of giving the news.

"Mum, Jason, James and C..Claudy...he killed them!" She sobbed and buried herself further into her mother's chest.

Hermione didn't react at first, but as the words sank in and understanding dawned on her, she sank to the floor, along with Jaiden, and she pulled her daughter closer to her as warm tears began to slowly fall. Jaiden wanted to speak to her mum and tell her Jason's final words, but as she looked up, her head suddenly began to swim, and before she could stop it, she found herself spinning into unconsciousness, Hermione's grasp being the only thing stopping her face from hitting the floor.


	15. Hospitals, Funerals, Hope and Kisses

_Sorry for the delay- I've been going through so much recently with Stomach Bugs and trying to catch up on my missed lectures. Now my mum is in hospital too with a serious infection, so it's really hard finding time to sit and write! Please forgive me!_

The next thing Jaiden was aware of, she could hear the sounds of people talking softly by her bed. She slowly opened her eyes to see her mum talking to Blaise. She noticed immediately how worn out Hermione looked, and for a few seconds, she couldn't understand why or even where she was, but as her mind cleared and her memory returned, she gasped and flew up into a sitting position, immediately crying out as her body exploded with pain. She felt a firm pair of hands gently ease her back down and weakly she fell back against the soft pillows.

Hermione stepped forwards and Blaise stepped out of the room to give the two females some privacy. Jaiden turned her blue-grey eyes up to look at her mum and she started to cry.

"Mum, I'm so sorry! I tried...I really did try, but he...he just didn't..."

Unable to finish her sentence for the tears, she buried her head in her hands and began to sob uncontrollably, letting out all of her feelings. Hermione quickly and carefully sat on the bed and drew her daughter into a comforting embrace. Eventually Jaiden found herself unable to cry anymore and her eyes began to slowly drop as she fell into a deep sleep.

The next time she woke, Blaise was the only person in the room. He looked up as she moved and she sent him a small smile, which he returned with a small one of his own. He told her that he had sent her mum home, and she found that she was actually relieved that Hermione wasn't around at that point, as she needed to know something but didn't want her mother to be upset any further.

"My dad? What happened to him? And Lucius?"

A strange look flashed in his eyes, and Jaiden was immediately aware that it wasn't good news. She could tell he was reluctant to tell her, so she kept a steady gaze trained on his face until he eventually broke. He sighed in defeat, knowing that there was no way he was winning this round.

"When Harry and I went back, it was like we'd stumbled into a bomb site. Virtually the whole manor was caved in, which told us that your dad had put up one hell of a fight. We found Lucius' body relatively quickly, and we continued to search everywhere for Draco. We couldn't find him, only his wand which had been snapped in three pieces. The only thing we can think is that he's..."

Jaiden cut him off, a determined expression on her face, her voice certain and firm.

"He's not dead."

On the outside she seemed confident, but inside, she was highly doubtful. Based on what Blaise told her there was almost no way he could have escaped, but that small part of her refused to give up on him. She just knew that somehow, he managed to get away. Blaise put a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed it. He admired the faith she had, and hoped with all his heart that somehow, Draco was alive.

Jaiden spent the following week sleeping a lot of the time, and when she was awake, she was constantly being prodded and poked by various doctors and nurses. When the day arrived for her to finally go home, she'd never felt so relieved. As she walked through the front door, she was greeted by a smiling Scott. She'd almost completely forgotten him over the past few weeks and she once again found herself crying as she ran forwards and hugged him tightly. When they parted, Scott took her bag off Blaise and the pair of them headed up to Jaiden's room. At first, Scott tried getting Jaiden to sit down and relax while he unpacked for her, but the look she sent him soon ended up with him sitting down meekly on the bed while she moved around doing the unpacking for herself.

* * *

They held a funeral a few days later for Jason, James and Claudine. There was also an empty grave for Draco. Hermione sobbed as Blaise held on to her. Jaiden was completely numb and stood as still as a stone, totally silent with a blank expression on her face, save the sorrow showing in her eyes. The only part of her that moved were a few strands of golden blonde hair that brushed against her face in the wind, and the few tears that rolled down her cheeks. She didn't look at the grave for Draco once, still refusing to believe he was gone. It was this that had stopped her from speaking to Hermione for almost a week. The argument the mother and daughter had gotten into over Draco had even sent Blaise running for his safety. This was now behind them though and they stood next to each other, neither speaking, yet feeling closer than they had done so since before Jaiden could even remember.

Another month passed and they were slowly moving on. Hermione had moved to another house, one that wouldn't remind her of her husband and children at every corner. Jaiden still lived with Blaise, and continued her degree, easily catching up on the work she had missed. Scott had been there every step of the way, but there was something different about him that Jaiden couldn't figure out. It wasn't until one evening that they were alone that he revealed why he was acting strange.

They were sitting on Jaiden's bed, Jaiden sitting up on the edge of the bed, typing notes onto her laptop, Scott leaning up casually against the wall, a book propped open on his lap. Jaiden suddenly felt the bed move and watched out of the corner of her eye as Scott cautiously picked her wand up. One of her eyebrows rose in confusion and interest and she quietly placed her laptop on the bed, all noted forgotten. She noticed that a regretful, pained expression crossed Scotts' face as he studied the wand, which just confused her more than she already was.

"Scott? You ok?"

"No"

"What's wrong?"

Scott looked up at her and gave her a look that she couldn't distinguish.

"The night Lucius attacked you, I was completely helpless. All I was able to do was run for help. You were left completely unprotected. I hate myself for being so weak. If only I had've gotten over my fear of magic and learnt some, maybe I could have prevented it."

Jaiden moved forwards and cupped her hands around his face, forcing him to look at her. Her heart melted at the sorrow in his hazel eyes and she gave him a warm smile.

"Even if you had've known magic, it probably would have still happened, and if you didn't run, I would have been burying you last month too. Don't regret it, just be glad that everything's ok now."

"I know, but I want you to teach me. I have to be able to protect you. I couldn't bear to lose you. Not ever."

Before she could say anything, he grasped her wrists and pulled her towards him, his lips pressing against hers. She was momentarily shocked that she was kissing her best friend, but she soon found herself returning the kiss, and the pair of them sank back onto the bed, never breaking contact. The sound of the front door shutting broke them apart, and Jaiden called a greeting down to Blaise, but was confused when there was no answer. She suddenly heard a grunt and a thud and she flew downstairs, wand at the ready. Her eyes widened at the sight that greeted her, and she launched forwards.

"SCOTT! GET DOWN HERE, NOW!!!"


	16. Relief

_I am so sorry for the late update!!! I've had no inspiration for this story but it's starting to return, so watch this space!_

A hand on her shoulder broke Jaiden from her trance. She looked up to see Scott standing above her holding a cup of coffee that he handed to her silently. She took it with a small nod of thanks before slipping back into her trance, staring at the door to the healing room. Blaise and Hermione were on their way and Harry was already there, speaking with the healers. Jaiden hadn't left her seat since they'd arrived, and she vowed to not move until she knew he was ok and would make a full recovery.

Scott watched her with a worried expression. When she'd screamed, the first thing he'd done was grasp hold of her wand, not even caring that he knew no spells, then raced downstairs so fast he nearly fell down them then as he reached Jaiden, nearly couldn't stop in time, barely avoiding tripping over her. It had been the sight that greeted him that worried him. She was covered in fresh blood, but as he saw the pale blonde hair in her lap, he realised that it wasn't her blood. It was Draco's. Immediately, Jaiden had looked up at Scott and screamed for him to summon Harry, Blaise and Hermione. He hesitated for only a second before bracing himself and quickly throwing a handful of floo powder into the fire and thrusting his head into it, calling out for Harry. Harry, who had been sitting in silence reading through some paperwork and holding a cup of coffee, jumped violently in shock, spilling coffee everywhere. He turned, wand raised at the intruder, but as soon as he saw the panicked look on Scott's face, he asked what was wrong. When he knew, he told Blaise to completely come in and once the teenager fell into his office seconds later, Harry told him to find Blaise. Harry flooed back to Blaise's house, and when he saw Jaiden sitting on the floor, holding Draco and crying, he sprung into action, apparating with both her and Draco to St Mungo's, calling out for a healer the second his feet touched solid ground again. They were rushed up to the healing room, and as Draco was moved onto the bed, Harry and Jaiden were quickly ushered out of the room. Jaiden had stopped crying by that point, and when Harry sat her on one of the chairs, she stared blankly at the door. Even when Scott returned and Harry left to speak to the healers, she just stared.

She was broken once again from her staring when Blaise and Hermione both entered the room. Hermione immediately rushed over to her daughter and embraced her, while Blaise moved to Harry to find out what was going on. Jaiden hugged her mum back, swallowing down the tears that were threatening to fall. She heard snippets of what Harry was saying, such as 'head trauma' 'lacerations' 'bleeding', but she was too tired and too focused on the door in front of her to listen too much. After Blaise had also hugged her and she fought the tears once again, they all sat down, waiting for news.

"I guess we can get rid of that headstone now" Jaiden joked to lighten the mood.

Everyone smiled and Scott laughed softly before putting an arm round her and pulling her into his chest. This time she didn't resist and let the tears fall as Scott continued to hold her and comfort her, whispering into her ear that everything would be ok and back to as normal as it could be soon. A few more hours passed and finally when everyone was either asleep or nearing sleep, a healer came out of the room with a relieved smile on his face. Jaiden was the first one to stand as she was the most awake. Her movements woke Scott, who was the next to stand, closely followed by Hermione, Harry and then Blaise who had to be shaken awake.

"Well, it was very touch and go for a long time, but we finally have him stabilised. We still don't know, until he wakes, the extent of his injuries, but for now he will be fine. He's sleeping now, but you may go in one at a time to see him."

Jaiden wasted no time in running into the room, not caring if anyone wanted to be the first. As far as she was concerned, he was HER dad, and she was the only one entitled to go in first. She stopped dead at the sight of him lying on the bed, paler than normal, almost a deathly grey shade to his skin. He had large black bruises under his eyes, and though most had been healed, she could see the faint outlines of the numerous cuts that had been across his face. Shakily, Jaiden walked towards him, and as she reached him, she leant down to kiss him on the forehead, apologising when a tear dropped onto his nose as she pulled away. She quickly wiped the tear and sat down next to him, gently holding his hand.

"I missed you dad. I was so scared that you were hurt, but I knew you weren't dead. I just knew it."

A wide smile appeared on her face as it suddenly dawned on her. She HAD been right, he was alive after all. He was going to be ok, and she could continue her life without the fear that she would never see him again. Suppressing the urge to hug him as tightly as she could, Jaiden settled for kissing him on his cheek and moving back out of the room to give the others a chance to see him. Blaise was the next in, and as he moved into the room, Scott came up to Jaiden and wrapped an arm round her before kissing her temple. The happiness inside of her suddenly exploded and with a small squeal that caused Blaise to stop and turn round, leaving the door wide open, she spun round and flung her arms round him, crashing her lips onto his with great enthusiasm. He happily returned the kiss, and when they pulled apart, they both laughed to see everyone's mouths dropped.

"Ok, when did this happen?" Blaise asked in bewilderment.

Before they had chance to answer, a weak voice spoke.

"As long as it hasn't been long enough for them to be alone for too long I don't care."

Jaiden's eyes opened wide, and she spun round again, her hair hitting Scott in the face. Her mouth widened into a grin and she all but ran back into her dad's room, flinging her arms round him as much as she dared, hugging him tightly, then began to sob. Draco weakly put his arms round her and hugged her back, and when she pulled away, he looked up to see everyone else standing in the doorway with smiles on their faces. All except Blaise, who looked grim.

"Blaise...?"

"You have a LOT of explaining to do, Draco Malfoy"


End file.
